"special delivery" meaning in English

See special delivery in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-special delivery.ogg [Australia] Forms: special deliveries [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} special delivery (countable and uncountable, plural special deliveries)
  1. (uncountable, sometimes hyphenated when used attributively) A kind of postal service in which, for an extra fee, letters and packages are delivered in a highly expedited manner by a special courier. Tags: uncountable
    Sense id: en-special_delivery-en-noun-N0CspQfX
  2. (countable) A particular posted letter or package which is delivered in this manner; a particular act of conveying such letters or packages to one or more recipients. Tags: countable Hypernyms: delivery
    Sense id: en-special_delivery-en-noun-Lxff4u5o
  3. (countable and uncountable, idiomatic, by extension, sometimes humorous) Something—whether desirable or undesirable—which is intentionally given to a specific individual or which an individual receives rapidly and unexpectedly; the personalized, direct quality of the transmission of such an item. Tags: broadly, countable, humorous, idiomatic, sometimes, uncountable
    Sense id: en-special_delivery-en-noun-S-Lb0w1y Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 27 53

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for special delivery meaning in English (4.3kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "special deliveries",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "special delivery (countable and uncountable, plural special deliveries)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1919, Grace S. Richmond, “The Time of His Life”, in The Brown Study",
          "text": "So, before he slept, he sent his sister a special-delivery letter knowing she would receive it in the morning.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922, Mary Roberts Rinehart, chapter 22, in The Breaking Point",
          "text": "Then, as though he could hurry the trains East, he put a special delivery stamp on it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A kind of postal service in which, for an extra fee, letters and packages are delivered in a highly expedited manner by a special courier."
      ],
      "id": "en-special_delivery-en-noun-N0CspQfX",
      "links": [
        [
          "hyphenate",
          "hyphenate"
        ],
        [
          "attributive",
          "attributive"
        ],
        [
          "postal",
          "postal"
        ],
        [
          "service",
          "service"
        ],
        [
          "fee",
          "fee"
        ],
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ],
        [
          "package",
          "package"
        ],
        [
          "expedite",
          "expedite"
        ],
        [
          "courier",
          "courier"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "sometimes hyphenated when used attributively",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable, sometimes hyphenated when used attributively) A kind of postal service in which, for an extra fee, letters and packages are delivered in a highly expedited manner by a special courier."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972 November 6, “People”, in Time",
          "text": "The post office arranged special deliveries every half-hour to handle the flood of greetings.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A particular posted letter or package which is delivered in this manner; a particular act of conveying such letters or packages to one or more recipients."
      ],
      "hypernyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "25 45 30",
          "word": "delivery"
        }
      ],
      "id": "en-special_delivery-en-noun-Lxff4u5o",
      "links": [
        [
          "particular",
          "particular"
        ],
        [
          "convey",
          "convey"
        ],
        [
          "recipient",
          "recipient"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A particular posted letter or package which is delivered in this manner; a particular act of conveying such letters or packages to one or more recipients."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 27 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998, Lisa Scottoline, Rough Justice, page 181",
          "text": "“Special delivery for Mr. Graham,” said the uniformed sheriff. He grinned as he stepped aside. “Hi, honey,” said the woman standing there.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Jerry B. Jenkins, John Perrodin, Seclusion Point, page 83",
          "text": "“He might be God's special delivery for us. The reward we've been waiting for.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Brad Thor, Brad Thor Collectors' Edition #1",
          "text": "“I have a special delivery for you from the president,” Harvath continued. He lowered his weapon, took aim, and shot the finger of Fawcett's right hand.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something—whether desirable or undesirable—which is intentionally given to a specific individual or which an individual receives rapidly and unexpectedly; the personalized, direct quality of the transmission of such an item."
      ],
      "id": "en-special_delivery-en-noun-S-Lb0w1y",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "intentional",
          "intentional"
        ],
        [
          "specific",
          "specific"
        ],
        [
          "rapid",
          "rapid"
        ],
        [
          "unexpected",
          "unexpected"
        ],
        [
          "personalize",
          "personalize"
        ],
        [
          "direct",
          "direct"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable and uncountable, idiomatic, by extension, sometimes humorous) Something—whether desirable or undesirable—which is intentionally given to a specific individual or which an individual receives rapidly and unexpectedly; the personalized, direct quality of the transmission of such an item."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "countable",
        "humorous",
        "idiomatic",
        "sometimes",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-special delivery.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2a/En-au-special_delivery.ogg/En-au-special_delivery.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/En-au-special_delivery.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "special delivery"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncountable nouns"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "special deliveries",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "special delivery (countable and uncountable, plural special deliveries)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "word": "delivery"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1919, Grace S. Richmond, “The Time of His Life”, in The Brown Study",
          "text": "So, before he slept, he sent his sister a special-delivery letter knowing she would receive it in the morning.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922, Mary Roberts Rinehart, chapter 22, in The Breaking Point",
          "text": "Then, as though he could hurry the trains East, he put a special delivery stamp on it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A kind of postal service in which, for an extra fee, letters and packages are delivered in a highly expedited manner by a special courier."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hyphenate",
          "hyphenate"
        ],
        [
          "attributive",
          "attributive"
        ],
        [
          "postal",
          "postal"
        ],
        [
          "service",
          "service"
        ],
        [
          "fee",
          "fee"
        ],
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ],
        [
          "package",
          "package"
        ],
        [
          "expedite",
          "expedite"
        ],
        [
          "courier",
          "courier"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "sometimes hyphenated when used attributively",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable, sometimes hyphenated when used attributively) A kind of postal service in which, for an extra fee, letters and packages are delivered in a highly expedited manner by a special courier."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972 November 6, “People”, in Time",
          "text": "The post office arranged special deliveries every half-hour to handle the flood of greetings.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A particular posted letter or package which is delivered in this manner; a particular act of conveying such letters or packages to one or more recipients."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "particular",
          "particular"
        ],
        [
          "convey",
          "convey"
        ],
        [
          "recipient",
          "recipient"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A particular posted letter or package which is delivered in this manner; a particular act of conveying such letters or packages to one or more recipients."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998, Lisa Scottoline, Rough Justice, page 181",
          "text": "“Special delivery for Mr. Graham,” said the uniformed sheriff. He grinned as he stepped aside. “Hi, honey,” said the woman standing there.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Jerry B. Jenkins, John Perrodin, Seclusion Point, page 83",
          "text": "“He might be God's special delivery for us. The reward we've been waiting for.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Brad Thor, Brad Thor Collectors' Edition #1",
          "text": "“I have a special delivery for you from the president,” Harvath continued. He lowered his weapon, took aim, and shot the finger of Fawcett's right hand.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something—whether desirable or undesirable—which is intentionally given to a specific individual or which an individual receives rapidly and unexpectedly; the personalized, direct quality of the transmission of such an item."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "intentional",
          "intentional"
        ],
        [
          "specific",
          "specific"
        ],
        [
          "rapid",
          "rapid"
        ],
        [
          "unexpected",
          "unexpected"
        ],
        [
          "personalize",
          "personalize"
        ],
        [
          "direct",
          "direct"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable and uncountable, idiomatic, by extension, sometimes humorous) Something—whether desirable or undesirable—which is intentionally given to a specific individual or which an individual receives rapidly and unexpectedly; the personalized, direct quality of the transmission of such an item."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "countable",
        "humorous",
        "idiomatic",
        "sometimes",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-special delivery.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2a/En-au-special_delivery.ogg/En-au-special_delivery.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/En-au-special_delivery.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "special delivery"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.